Largest Desalination Plant in the Hemisphere to Supply 7% of San Diego's Water

At 70 percent complete, and slated to be open and operating November of 2015, the Carlsbad Desalination Project is predicted to be, at 50-million gallons per day, the largest and most energy-efficient seawater desalination plant in the Western Hemisphere. And it will supply enough water to meet about 7 percent of San Diego county's water needs.

The water authority has pledged to buy the desalinated water at $2,014 to $2,257 per acre-foot. About twice the cost of traditional water supplies, but about half that of desalination plants just 10 years ago. An acre-foot is enough to supply two homes for a year. During the first full year of production - in 2016 - the desalinated water will add about $5.14 per month to the typical household's water bill, according to the water authority.

"This source, since it's not dependent on rainfall and snow melt, is the (region's) first drought-proof source of water."

But they're not going all-in with desalination. San Diego city's plan to purify wastewater to drinking-water standards is the next major item on their agenda. The city envisions constructing a water-purification plant that can generate 83 million gallons of drinking water per day by 2035. The purification plant could also help eliminate the need for $1.8 billion in overdue upgrades to the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant by reducing the amount of wastewater that must be piped to sea.